Electronic device and touch device with transmission line in bending area

ABSTRACT

A touch display device including a substrate, a first touch electrode, a display layer and an insulating layer is provided. The substrate includes a first bending portion. The first touch electrode is disposed over the substrate. Over the first bending portion of the substrate, the display layer is disposed between the substrate and the first touch electrode, and the insulating layer is disposed between the display layer and the first touch electrode.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation application of a prior application Ser. No.16/541,166, filed on Aug. 15, 2019, now allowed, which is a continuationapplication of a prior application Ser. No. 15/453,907, filed on Mar. 9,2017, now patented. The prior application Ser. No. 15/453,907 claims thepriority benefits of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/371,252,filed on Aug. 5, 2016, U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/415,542,filed on Nov. 1, 2016, and U.S. provisional application Ser. No.62/429,162, filed on Dec. 2, 2016. The entirety of each of theabove-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by referenceherein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF DISCLOSURE 1. Field of the Disclosure

The present invention generally relates to a touch display device, inparticular, to a bent touch display device.

2. Description of Related Art

A touch display device is becoming more and more popular in the market,and the application of the touch display device is wider and wider. Forintegrating the touch sensing function and the image displaying functionin an electronic device, a touch panel allowing the display light topass through is attached onto a display panel through an adhesive layer.However, the attachment of the touch panel increases the thickness ofthe electronic device and causes a restriction on the reliability of theelectronic device. For example, the touch panel may be peeled off fromthe display panel when an external force is applied to the electronicdevice. In addition, the increased thickness may restrict the mechanicalproperty such as the flexibility of the electronic device.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a touch display deviceincluding a substrate, a first touch electrode, a display layer and aninsulating layer is provided. The substrate includes a first bendingportion. The first touch electrode is disposed over the substrate. Overthe first bending portion of the substrate, the display layer isdisposed between the substrate and the first touch electrode, and theinsulating layer is disposed between the display layer and the firsttouch electrode.

Based on the above, the touch display device can have the displayfunction and the touch sensing function in the bending portion and havegood reliability.

To make the above features and advantages of the disclosure morecomprehensible, embodiments accompanied with drawings are described indetail as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitutea part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of thedisclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross sectional view of a part of a touch displaydevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross sectional view of a part of a touch displaydevice according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross sectional view of a part of a touch displaydevice according to further another embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4A is a schematic top view of a touch display device according toan embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4B is a schematic cross sectional view of the touch display deviceof FIG. 4A taken along line I-I′ and line II-II′ in FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing showing a part of the touch display devicein a bent status according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross sectional view showing a portion of adisplay pixel in the display layer of a touch display device accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing showing a part of the touch display deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic top view showing a touch sensor element for atouch display device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a touch display device according toanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a schematic top view showing a touch sensor element for atouch display device according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 11 schematically illustrates a touch display device according tofurther another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a schematic cross sectional view of a touch display devicetaken along a portion of a transmission line of a touch electrode in thetouch display device when touch display device is in a bent statusaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a schematic cross sectional view of a touch display deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 schematically illustrates a top view of the first touchelectrode in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a schematic cross sectional view of a touch display deviceaccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 schematically illustrates a top view of the first touchelectrode and the second touch electrode in FIG. 15.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of thedisclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in thedrawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross sectional view of a part of a touch displaydevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referringto FIG. 1, a touch display device 100 includes a substrate 110, a firsttouch electrode 120, a display layer 130 and an insulating layer 140.The substrate 110 includes a bending portion 112 which is formed bybending the substrate 110 to have a curved surface 112S. Over thebending portion 112, the display layer 130 is disposed between thesubstrate 110 and the first touch electrode 120, and the insulatinglayer 140 is disposed between the display layer 130 and the first touchelectrode 120.

In an embodiment, the substrate 110 can be a flexible substrate. Thedisplay layer 130, the insulating layer 140 and the first touchelectrode 120 can be sequentially fabricated on the substrate 110 whenthe substrate 110 is flat in an unbent status and even attached onto arigid support. Thereafter, the substrate 110 with the first touchelectrode 120, the display layer 130 and the insulating layer 140disposed thereon can be bent according to a predetermined shape. Forexample, the substrate 110 can be bent about a bending axis BA and thecurvature radius R is determined based on the use and/or application ofthe touch display device 100. Accordingly, the bending portion 112 canhave the curved surface 112S, and the first touch electrode 120, thedisplay layer 130 and the insulating layer 140 are curved in accordancewith the curved surface 112S.

The first touch electrode 120 can sense touch activity of a user. Thefirst touch electrode 120 can perform a mutual-capacitive touch sensingfunction, a self-capacitive touch sensing function, a resist type touchsensing function or the like. The pattern layout of the first touchelectrode 120 can be determined based on the type of touch sensingfunction. In addition, the first touch electrode 120 can be fabricatedon the insulating layer 140 without using an adhesive technique.Therefore, the first touch electrode 120 may less likely be peeled offfrom the touch display device 100 when bending the touch display device100. In other words, the touch display device 100 has a touch on displaystructure so as to involve better reliability and compact volume.

The display layer 130 can include a plurality of display pixels fordisplaying an image. The display layer 130 can display an image inresponse to the touch sensing result of the first touch electrode 120 inone example. Alternatively, the display layer 130 can display an imagebased on the instruction of a driving unit (not shown). The displaylayer 130 can include a self-luminous display pixel capable of emittingthe display light, or a non self-luminous display pixel capable ofadjusting an incident light and allowing the adjusted light to betransmitted outwardly to construct the display light. The self-luminousdisplay pixel may include an organic light emitting diode (OLED) pixel,a quantum dot pixel, a micro LED pixel, or the like. The nonself-luminous display pixel may include an electrophoresis displaypixel, an electro-wetting display pixel, a liquid crystal display pixel,or the like. When the display layer 130 includes the non self-luminousdisplay pixel, the touch display device 100 can further include a lightsource; alternatively, the non self-luminous display pixel may displayimage by reflecting the external light without equipped with a lightsource.

The insulating layer 140 between the display layer 130 and the firsttouch electrode 120 can serve as a layer isolating the display layer 130and the first touch electrode 120 as well as a layer protecting thedisplay layer 130. In one example, the insulating layer 140 can providethe gas-water barrier function to protect the display layer 130 frombeing damaged by the invading gas or water if needed. The insulatinglayer 140 can have a single layer structure or a multi-layers structure.For example, the insulating layer 140 can include organic material,inorganic material, or a mixture of organic and inorganic material. Theinorganic material suitable for use can be an oxide such as siliconoxide, a nitride such as silicon nitride, an oxy-nitride such as siliconoxy-nitride, or a combination thereof can be adopted. For organicmaterial, a resin material, a photoresist material, a polymer or acombination thereof can be adopted.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross sectional view of a part of a touch displaydevice according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.Referring to FIG. 2, a touch display device 200, similar to the touchdisplay device 100, includes a substrate 110, a first touch electrode120, a display layer 130 and an insulating layer 140, and furtherincludes a second touch electrode 150. The disposition relationship andthe functions of the substrate 110, the first touch electrode 120, thedisplay layer 130 and the insulating layer 140 can refer to the detaileddescriptions for the embodiment of FIG. 1 and are not reiterated here.The second touch electrode 150 can be disposed between the insulatinglayer 140 and the substrate 110, and curved in accordance with thecurved surface 112S over the bending portion 112 of the substrate 110.In one embodiment, the insulating layer 140 can be used for isolatingthe first touch electrode 120 from the second touch electrode 150 sothat the first touch electrode 120 and the second touch electrode 150are not in direct contacted with each other. The first touch electrode120 and the second touch electrode 150 can be coupled mutually toperform a mutual capacitive touch sensing function. Alternatively, thefirst touch electrode 120 and the second touch electrode 150 canindividually perform the touch sensing function.

In the present embodiment, the display layer 130 can include a pluralityof elements and the second touch electrode 150 can be formed in the samelayer of one element of the display layer 130. Therefore, though thedrawing presents the second touch electrode 150 and the display layer130 as individual layers, the second touch electrode 150 can be formedby the same layer as one layer of the display layer 130. For example,the display layer 130 can include an electrode layer and a conductivelayer. The second touch electrode 150 can be formed by the same layer asthe electrode layer in the display layer. Or, the second touch electrode150 can be formed by the same layer as the conductive layer in thedisplay layer. The touch display device 200 can be considered as ahybrid touch display device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross sectional view of a part of a touch displaydevice according to further another embodiment of the presentdisclosure. Referring to FIG. 3, a touch display device 300 includes asubstrate 310, a first touch electrode 320, a display layer 330 and aninsulating layer 340. The first touch electrode 320 is disposed over thesubstrate 310. The display layer 330 is disposed between the first touchelectrode 320 and the substrate 310. The insulating layer 340 isdisposed between the first touch electrode 320 and the display layer330. In addition, the substrate 310 includes a first bending portion 312and a main portion 314. The first bending portion 312 is located at aside of the main portion 314.

The substrate 310 can be made of flexible material and capable of beingbent into a desired shape. The first bending portion 312 can beconsidered as a bent portion of the substrate 310 while the main portion314 can be considered as an unbent portion of the substrate 310. In someembodiments, the main portion 314 can be flat. However, in otherembodiments, the main portion 314 can be not flat and include uneven orcurved surface. The first bending portion 312 can have greater bendingextent than the main portion 314. In other words, a greatest curvatureof the first bending portion 312 is greater than a greatest curvature ofthe main portion 314.

The bending process can be conducted before the display device ispresented to the consumers (or users). FIG. 3 shows the state of thedisplay device, in which the substrate 310 has been bent. Alternatively,according to some embodiments, when a flexible substrate is used as thesubstrate, the bending process can be conducted by the consumer. Thatis, originally, the substrate of the display device can be flat, andthen the consumer can bend the substrate to have the bent portionaccording to requirement, thus obtaining the display device as shown inFIG. 3. In the disclosure, the bending portion can mean a portion thathas been bent, or a portion that will be bent by the consumers.

According to some embodiments, the first bending portion 312 of thesubstrate 310 can have at least two curvatures. For example, as shown inFIG. 3, the first bending portion 312 can include a first curved section312A and a second curved section 312B. The first curved section 312A iscurved about the bending axis BAA with a curvature radius RA. The secondcurved section 312B is curved about the bending axis BAB with acurvature radius RB. In the present embodiment, the curvature radius RAof the first curved section 312A is different from the curvature radiusRB of the second curved section 312B. Herein, FIG. 3 though shows thatthe curvature radius RA is smaller than the curvature radius RB and thefirst curved section 312A is closer to the main portion 314 than thesecond curved section 312B, the disclosure is not limited thereto. Thecurvature variation of the first bending portion 312 can be determinedbased on the requirement of design and application.

The first touch electrode 320, the display layer 330 and the insulatinglayer 340 can be disposed on both the first bending portion 312 and themain portion 314. Over the first bending portion 312, the first touchelectrode 320, the display layer 330 and the insulating layer 340 arecurved in accordance with the curved surface 312S. In one example, thedisplay layer 330 as well as the first touch electrode 320 cancontinuously extend from the first bending portion 312 to the mainportion 314. Thus, the display layer 330 and the first touch electrodelayer 320 are disposed in the main portion 314 and the first bendingportion 312. Accordingly, in the touch display device 300, the touch anddisplay functions can be achieved at both the first bending portion 312and the main portion 314. Alternatively, the first touch electrode 320may include a first part in the first bending portion 312 and a secondpart in the main portion 314, the first part and the second part canperform touch sensing function individually. For example, the first partcan perform the self-capacitance touch sensing function and the secondpart can perform the mutual-capacitance touch sensing function.

For having the touch sensing function, the touch display device 300includes the first touch electrode 320 over both the first bendingportion 312 and the main portion 314, but not limited thereto. In analternative embodiment, the touch display device 300 can further includea second touch electrode such as the second touch electrode 150 depictedin FIG. 2 over at least one of the first bending portion 312 and themain portion 314. In addition, the first touch electrode 320 may beomitted over the main portion 314, such that the touch sensing functionmay not provide over the main portion 314 or the touch sensing functionover the main portion 314 may be achieved by other types of touchsensing element.

FIG. 4A is a schematic top view of a touch display device according toan embodiment of the disclosure and FIG. 4B is a schematic crosssectional view of the touch display device of FIG. 4A taken along lineI-I′ and line II-II′ in FIG. 4A. Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, the touchdisplay device 400 includes a substrate 410, a first touch electrode420, a display layer 430 and an insulating layer 440. The first touchelectrode 420 is disposed over the substrate 410. The display layer 430is disposed between the first touch electrode 420 and the substrate 410.The insulating layer 440 is disposed between the first touch electrode420 and the display layer 430. In addition, the substrate 410 includesat least one first bending portion 412, a main portion 414 and a secondbending portion 416.

Referring to FIG. 4, the main portion 414 includes four sides S1, S2,S3, and S4. The first side S1 is opposite to the second side S2, and thethird side S3 is opposite to the fourth side S4. The first side S1 isnext to the third side S3. The first bending portion 412 is located atthe first side S1 of the main portion 414, and the second bendingportion 416 is located at the third side S3. In addition, the firsttouch electrode 420, the display layer 430 and the insulating layer 440can be disposed over at least one of the first bending portion 412, themain portion 414 and the second bending portion 416. As shown in FIG.4A, the touch display device 400 having two first bending portions 412at two opposite sides (S1 and S2) of the main portion 414 is taken as anexample, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other examples,the touch display device 400 can have only one first bending portion 412at a side of the main portion 414.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the main portion 414 is substantially aflat plane while the first bending portion 412 and the second bendingportion 416 are curved with respective to the main portion 414. Namely,a greatest curvature of the first bending portion 412 and a greatestcurvature of the second bending portion 416 are respectively greaterthan a greatest curvature of the main portion 414. In addition, thegreatest curvature of the second bending portion 416 can be the same ordifferent from the greatest curvature of the first bending portion 412.Specifically, the first bending portion 412 is bent about a bending axisBA1 with a curvature radius R1, the second bending portion 416 is bentabout a bending axis BA2 with a curvature radius R2. As shown in FIG.4B, the curvature radius R1 of the first bending portion 412 is smallerthan the curvature radius R2 of the second bending portion 416. However,the extent of the curvature rate of the first bending portion 412 andthe second bending portion 416 can be adjusted according to variousrequirements or applications.

The display function and the touch sensing function can be performedover the first bending portion 412 and/or the second bending portion416. However, it is not necessary to have the display and the touchsensing functions over both the first bending portion 412 and the secondbending portion 416 in some examples. In addition, the driving unit sucha driving IC (not shown) can be disposed on the second bending portion416 and electrically communicated with the first touch electrode 420 andthe display layer 430, such that the second bending portion 416 may notinvolve the display function and the touch sensing function, but providefor an external component to be bonded thereto.

For having the touch sensing function, the touch display device 400 isconfigured with the first touch electrode 420 over the first bendingportion 412, the main portion 414 and the second bending portion 416,but not limited thereto. The first bending portion 412 has a curvedsurface 412S and the second bending portion 416 has a curved surface416S. Over the first bending portion 412, the first touch electrode 420,the display layer 430 and the insulating layer 440 are curved inaccordance with the curved surface 412S of the first bending portion412. Over the second bending portion 416, the first touch electrode 420,the display layer 430 and the insulating layer 440 are curved inaccordance with the curved surface 416S of the second bending portion416. In an alternative embodiment, the touch display device 400 canfurther include a second touch electrode such as the second touchelectrode 150 depicted in FIG. 2 over at least one of the first bendingportion 412, the main portion 414 and the second bending portion 416,such that the first touch electrode 420 and the second touch electrodecan perform the mutual capacitive touch sensing function by capacitivecoupled to each other.

In the previous embodiments, the substrate 110, 310 or 410 can be madeof flexible material, such that the touch electrode, the display layerand the insulating layer can be fabricated on the substrate 110, 310 or410 by using the deposition process, the printing process, thedeposition process combined with the patterning process, or the likewhen the substrate 110, 310 or 410 is unbent and can be curved alongwith the substrate 110, 310 or 410 when the substrate 110, 310 or 410 isbent. In an example, the substrate 110, 310 or 410 is folded or bentinto a predetermined shape. The bent substrate 110, 310 or 410 can beselectively attached onto a stereo object or frame having a curvedstructure to maintain the bent shape. Alternatively, a rigid support(not shown) can be attached to the substrate 110, 310 or 410 and thebent shape of the substrate 110, 310 or 410 can be maintained by fixingthe rigid support. Furthermore, the substrate 110, 310 or 410 can bebent by a user's operation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing showing a part of the touch display devicein a bent status according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Referringto FIG. 5, the touch display device 500 includes a substrate 510, afirst touch electrode 520, a display layer 530, an insulating layer 540and a driving unit 560. The substrate 510 is bendable and/or foldable,and in a bent status, the substrate 510 includes a first bending portion512 and a main portion 514, wherein the first bending portion 512 has acurvature greater than the main portion 514. The first touch electrode520, the display layer 530, and the insulating layer 540 are formed overthe substrate 510 and disposed on both the first bending portion 512 andthe main portion 514. Over the first bending portion 512, the firsttouch electrode 520, the display layer 530, and the insulating layer 540are curved along with the curvature of the first bending portion 512. Inthe thickness direction, the display layer 530 is disposed between thesubstrate 510 and the first touch electrode 520, and the insulatinglayer 540 is disposed between the first touch electrode 520 and thedisplay layer 530. In addition, the driving unit 560 can be disposed onthe first bending portion 512 of the substrate 510 and can be proximateto an edge of the substrate 510. The driving unit 560 can be integratedcircuit (IC) and electrically communicated with the display layer 530and the first touch electrode 520. The driving unit 560 can include adriving circuit therein to control the display function of the displaylayer 530 and/or the touch sensing function of the first touch electrode520.

The display layer 530 can include a driving layer 532 and a displaymedium layer 534, where the driving layer 532 is more adjacent to thesubstrate 510 than the display medium layer 534. The driving layer 532further extends outwardly from the display medium layer 534 forconnecting to the driving unit 560. In addition, the display mediumlayer 534 can include display medium units, and the driving layer 532can include driving element units. Each display medium unit can bedriven by one driving element unit to emit the display light as adisplay pixel. The display medium unit can be an organic light emittingdiode unit, a micro LED unit, a quantum dot unit, an electrophoresismedium unit, an electro-wetting medium unit, or the like. The drivingelement unit can include at least one thin film transistor and at leastone capacitor.

The first touch electrode 520 can extend outwardly from the edge of thedisplay medium layer 534, such that the touch display device 500 canhave a touch region larger than the display region, which is helpful toenhance the edge touch sensing accuracy. In addition, the insulatinglayer 540 also extends outwardly from the edge of the display mediumlayer 534, such that the insulating layer 540 can encapsulate thesidewall of the display medium layer 534 to prevent the display mediumlayer 534 from the invading water and gas.

Specifically, the display layer in any of the above touch displaydevices can include a plurality of display pixels arranged in an array.FIG. 6 is a schematic cross sectional view showing a portion of adisplay pixel in the display layer of a touch display device accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 6, thedisplay pixel 630P includes a substrate 610 and a display layer 630 onthe substrate 610. The display layer 630 can include a driving layer632, a display medium layer 634 and a dielectric layer 636 interposedbetween the driving layer 632 and the display medium layer 634. Thedriving layer 632 is disposed on the substrate 610 exemplarily includinga substrate body 612 and a buffering layer 614 between the substratebody 612 and the driving layer 632. The dielectric layer 636 isinterposed between the driving layer 632 and the display medium layer634, and the display pixel 630P can further includes a conductingstructure (not shown) electrically connecting the driving layer 632 andthe display medium layer 634, so that the driving layer 632 can drivethe display medium layer 634 to emit a display light.

In FIG. 6, the driving layer 632 includes at least one thin filmtransistor TFT. The thin film transistor TFT includes, for example, agate G, a channel region CH, a first source drain region SD1, a secondsource drain region SD2, a first conductor M1 (as a source or drainelectrode) and a second conductor (as a source or drain electrode) M2.The channel region CH, the first source drain region SD1 and the secondsource drain region SD2 are formed by a semiconductor structure, wherethe first source drain region SD1 and the second source drain region SD2are located at opposite sides of the channel region CH, and the firstsource drain region SD1 and the second source drain region SD2 can havebetter conductivity than the channel region CH. A gate insulation layerGI is formed between the channel region CH and the gate G while theorthogonal projection area of the gate G on the substrate 610 overlapsthe orthogonal projection area of the channel region CH on the substrate610. Above the gate G, a passivation layer PS is formed. The firstconductor M1 and the second conductor M2 are formed on the passivationlayer PS and respectively connects to the first source drain region SD1and the second source drain region SD2 through a first contact via V1and a second contact via V2 passing through the passivation layer PS andthe gate insulation layer GI. The dielectric layer 636 is disposed onthe driving layer 632 and covers the first conductor M1 and the secondconductor M2.

The display medium layer 634 in the present embodiment includes a firstelectrode E1, a second electrode E2 and a light emitting layer LE toform a light emitting diode structure LED. The light emitting layer LEcan be an organic light emitting layer, a micro LED layer, or a quantumdot layer. In addition, a pixel define layer PDL is formed on thedielectric layer 636 to define the disposition location of the lightemitting diode structure LED. The first electrode E1 is formed on thedielectric layer 636, and the pixel define layer PDL is disposed on thefirst electrode E1, where the pixel define layer PDL has an opening OPexposing at least a portion of the first electrode E1. The lightemitting layer LE is disposed on the first electrode E1 in the openingOP of the pixel define layer PDL. The second electrode E2 is disposed onthe light emitting layer EL and extends outwardly from the top of thelight emitting layer EL to overlap the pixel define layer PDL. Herein,the first electrode E1 can serve as an anode and the second electrode E2can serve as a cathode, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. Or,the first electrode E1 can serve as a cathode and the second electrodeE2 can serve as an anode. The second electrode E2 can be formed by atransparent conductive layer so that the light emitting diode structureLED can be a top emission type emitting structure.

The thin film transistor TFT though does not directly connect to thelight emitting diode structure LED in FIG. 6, is one component of thedriving layer 632 for driving the light emitting diode structure LED. Inone example, the driving layer 632 can include two transistors plus onecapacitor (2T1C), six transistors plus one capacitor (6T1C), seventransistors plus two capacitors (7T2C), or the like to drive the lightemitting diode structure LED of the display medium layer 634. Inaddition, the material of the light emitting layer EL can includeorganic light emitting material so that the display pixel 630P can be anorganic light emitting diode (OLED) pixel, but the disclosure is notlimited thereto. In an alternative example, the light emitting layer ELcan be selectively doped with quantum dots therein so as to provide aquantum dot display function. The display pixel 630P can be applied toany of the touch display devices disclosed in the present disclosure.For example, in the case the display pixel 630P is applied to the touchdisplay device 500, the driving layer 632, the display medium layer 634and the dielectric layer 636 can serve as the specific implementalstructures of the display layer 530.

FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing showing a part of the bending portion ofthe touch display device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.Referring to FIG. 7, the touch display device 700 includes a substrate710, a first touch electrode 720, a display layer 730, an insulatinglayer 740 and a driving unit 760. The substrate 710 can be bendableand/or foldable or bent to form a bending portion, but the drawingpresents the portion of the substrate 710 in an unbent status. The firsttouch electrode 720, the display layer 730, and the insulating layer 740are formed over the substrate 710, where the display layer 730 isdisposed between the substrate 710 and the first touch electrode 720,and the insulating layer 740 is disposed between the first touchelectrode 720 and the display layer 730. In addition, the driving unit760 can be disposed on the bending portion of the substrate 710 andelectrically communicated with the display layer 730 and the first touchelectrode 720. The driving unit 760 can include a driving circuittherein to control the display function of the display layer 730 and/orthe touch sensing function of the first touch electrode 720.

The display layer 730 can include a driving layer 732, a display mediumlayer 734 and a dielectric layer 736, where the dielectric layer 736 isdisposed between the driving layer 732 and the display medium layer 734,and the driving layer 732 is more adjacent to the substrate 710 than thedisplay medium layer 734. The display medium layer 734 is driven by thedriving layer 732. In addition, the driving layer 732 extends outwardlyfrom the display medium layer 734 for connecting to the driving unit760. The dielectric layer 736 can also extend outwardly from the displaymedium layer 734 for protecting the driving layer 732.

The insulating layer 740 in the present embodiment can include anorganic layer 742 and an inorganic layer 744 sequentially stacked overthe display layer 730, where a greatest thickness of the organic layer742 is a first thickness h1, a greatest thickness of the inorganic layer744 is a second thickness h2, and the first thickness h1 is greater thanthe second thickness h2. The insulating layer 740 extends outwardly fromthe edge of the display medium layer 734 in a manner that the organiclayer 742 covers the side of the display medium layer 734 and theinorganic layer 744 covers the side of the organic layer 742, such thatthe insulating layer 740 can encapsulate the sidewall of the displaymedium layer 734 to prevent the display medium layer 734 from theinvading water and gas at the side direction. In other embodiments, theinsulating layer 740 can further include other inorganic layers and/orother inorganic layers, where the organic layers and the inorganiclayers are stacked alternatively to form a gas-water barrier structure.In some embodiments, the insulating layer 740 can be a three layerstructure, which include two inorganic layers and one organic layer. Theorganic layer is disposed between two inorganic layers.

In FIG. 7, the first touch electrode 720 can extend outwardly from theedge of the display medium layer 734 over the insulating layer 740, suchthat the touch display device 700 can have a touch region larger thanthe display region, which is helpful to enhance the edge touch sensingaccuracy. In addition, the first touch electrode 720 is formed on theinorganic layer 744 while the organic layer 742 may not contact with thefirst touch electrode 720. The first touch electrode 720 can include atleast one connecting structure 722 passing through the dielectric layer736, and the first touch electrode 720 can be connected to the drivinglayer 732 via the connecting structure 722. Accordingly, the drivinglayer 732 can transmit the touch sensing signal between the driving unit760 and the first touch electrode 720. Therefore, the driving layer 732may not merely be used for driving the display medium layer 734 but alsoproviding the signal transmission function for the first touch electrode720. In one embodiment, the driving unit 760 can be integrated with thetouch sensing control/driving circuit and the display control/drivingcircuit. Alternatively, the touch display device 700 may include twodriving units separately, in which one driving unit is for the touchsensing control/driving function, and the other driving unit is for thedisplay control/driving function.

FIG. 8 is a schematic top view showing a touch sensor element for atouch display device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.Referring to FIG. 8, the touch sensor element TP suitable for beingconfigured in a touch display device such as any of the touch displaydevices 100 to 500 and 700 in the previous embodiments, and includes aplurality of first touch electrodes TP1 and a plurality of second touchelectrodes TP2. The first touch electrode TP1 and the second touchelectrode TP2 can perform a mutual capacitive touch sensing function.One of the first touch electrode TP1 and the second touch electrode TP2is a scan electrode (or driving electrode) and the other is a readingelectrode (or sensing electrode). In the case the touch sensor elementTP is disposed on an unbent substrate, each first touch electrode TP1can extend in a first direction D1, each second touch electrode TP2 canextend in a second direction D2, and the first direction D1 canintersect with the second direction D2 on an X-Y plane. For example, thefirst direction D1 can be perpendicular to the second direction D2.

In the present embodiment, the first touch electrode TP1 can comprises aplurality of first sensing pads P1 extending along the first directionD1, a plurality of first bridges B1A and a plurality of second bridgesB1B. The first touch electrodes TP1 in the bending portion 902 and thosein the main portion 904 can have different structure. Referring to FIG.8 and FIG. 9 together, the first touch electrodes TP1 in the bendingportion 902 include the first sensing pads P1 and the first bridges B1A,the first touch electrodes TP1 in the main portion 904 include the firstsensing pads P1 and the second bridges B1B, and the at least one of thefirst bridges B1A has different extending direction from the extendingdirection of at least one of the second bridges B1B.

The first sensing pads P1 can be connected each other by the firstbridges B1A in the bending portion 902, the first sensing pads areconnected by the second bridges B1B in the main portion 904, and atleast one of the first bridge B1A has an extending direction differentfrom an extending direction of at least one of the second bridge B1B.For example, in FIG. 8, the first bridges B1A have an extendingdirection (the third direction D3), which is different from theextending direction (the first direction D0 of the second bridges. Eachsecond touch electrode TP2 includes a plurality of second sensing padsP2 and a neck portion B2 connecting two adjacent second sensing pads P2arranged along the second direction D2. In addition, each neck portionB2 is isolated from the first bridge B1A or the second bridge B1Bthrough an insulator IN so that the first touch electrode TP1 and thesecond touch electrode TP2 are electrically independent from each other.

In some embodiment, the first bridge B1A and the second bridge B1Bextend in different directions on the X-Y plane, and specifically, thefirst bridge B1A can extend in a third direction D3, and the secondbridge B1B can extend in the first direction D1. The third direction D3is tilted with respect to the first direction D1 on the X-Y plane. Insome embodiment, the first bridge B1A and the second bridge B1B canextend in the same direction. For example, the first bridge B1A and thesecond bridge B1B can extend in the third direction D3.

The touch sensor element TP can further include a plurality oftransmission lines TL. Specifically, the transmission line TL includes afirst direction portion TL1, a second direction portion TL2 and a thirddirection portion TL3 connected between the first direction portion TL1and the second direction portion TL2. The first direction portion TL1 isconnected to one first touch electrode TP1 at an end and connected tothird direction portion TL3 at the other end. The extending direction ofthe third direction portion TL3 is intersected with either the extendingdirection of the first direction portion TL1 or the extending directionof the second direction portion TL2. The extending direction of thefirst direction portion TL1 can be parallel to the first direction D1and the extending direction of the second direction portion TL2 can beparallel to the second direction D2, but the disclosure is not limitedthereto. In an alternative embodiment, the first direction portion TL1can be directly connected to the second direction portion TL2 withoutthe third direction portion TL3. Alternatively, the transmission line TLcan include more than three portions extending in different directions.

When the touch sensor element TP is applied to a touch display device900 as shown in FIG. 9, the first section TP1A can be disposed on thebending portion 902 while the second section TP1B can be disposed on themain portion 904. Referring to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 together, the mainportion 904 of the touch display device 900 is substantially configuredto be a flat plate parallel to an X-Y plane and the bending portion 902is substantially configured to curve about a bending axis BA and have acurvature with respect to the main portion 904. The first direction D1with respect to the extending direction of the first touch electrode TP1is substantially parallel to a projection BD′ of the bending directionBD of the bending portion 902 on the X-Y plane, and the second directionD2 with respect to the extending direction of the second touch electrodeTP2 is substantially parallel to the bending axis BA of the bendingportion 902.

When the first section TP1A of the touch sensor element TP is bent (orcurved) in accordance with the bending direction BD, the extendingdirection of the first bridge B1A is intersected with the bendingdirection BD. The extending direction (the third direction D3) of thefirst bridge B1A is different from the bending direction BD. Thus, whenthe substrate is bent, the first bridge B1A in the bending portion 902would less likely be damaged under the bending stress along the bendingdirection BD. Therefore, the configuration of disposing the firstsection TP1A of the touch sensor element TP in the bending portion 902and disposing the second section TP1B of the touch sensor element TP inthe main portion 904 is conducive to enhance the reliability of thetouch sensor element TP and ensure the quality of the touch displaydevice 900.

In addition, the transmission line TL includes the third directionportion TL3 tilted with respect to the first direction D1 in FIG. 8, andnot parallel to the bending direction BD in FIG. 9, so that thetransmission line TL would less likely be damaged owing to the bendingstress of in the bending direction BD. Accordingly, the touch displaydevice 900 can have better reliability and yield rate by configuring thetransmission line TL with the third direction portion TL3 in the bendingportion 902.

FIG. 10 is a schematic top view showing a touch sensor element for atouch display device according to another embodiment of the disclosure.Referring to FIG. 10, the touch sensor element TP′ suitable for beingconfigured in a touch display device such as any of the touch displaydevices 100 to 500 and 700 in the previous embodiments, and includes aplurality of first touch electrodes TP1, a plurality of second touchelectrodes TP2, and a plurality of transmission line TL′. The structuredesign and the disposition relationship of the first touch electrode TP1and the second touch electrode TP2 can be similar to those depicted inthe embodiment of FIG. 8 and not iterated here. The transmission linesTL′ are each connected with one second touch electrode TP2 in thepresent embodiment.

Each of the transmission lines TL′ connects to the second touchelectrode TP2 at one end. The transmission line TL′ extend in the seconddirection D2 first and turns to extend in the first direction D1. Inaddition, some of the transmission line TL′ can be disposed at one endof the second touch electrodes TP2 and the other of the transmissionline TL′ can be disposed at the other end of the second touch electrodesTP2.

FIG. 11 schematically illustrates a touch display device according tofurther another embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG.11, the touch display device 1100 can have a substrate including a firstbending portion 1102, a first main portion 1104, a second bendingportion 1106 and a second main portion 1108. The first bending portion1102 and the second bending portion 1106 are located between the firstmain portion 1104 and the second main portion 1108 and the touch displaydevice 1100 is folded so that the first bending portion 1102 and thesecond bending portion 1106 are curved, and the first main portion 1104and the second main portion 1108 can be substantially plane and faced toeach other. The touch sensor element TP′ in FIG. 10 can be applied tothe touch display device 1100, in a manner that the first section TP1Ais disposed on the first bending portion 1102 or the second bendingportion 1106 while the second section TP1B is disposed on the first mainportion 1104 or the second main portion 1108.

Referring to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, in the present embodiment, theextending direction (the third direction D3) of the first bridge B1A isnot parallel to the bending direction BD when the first section TP1A isdisposed on the first bending portion 1102 or the second bending portion1106. The extending direction (the third direction D3) of the firstbridge B1A is different from the bending direction BD. Therefore, whenthe substrate is bent, the first bridge B1A in the first or secondbending portion 1102 or 1106 would not easily be damaged under thebending stress along the bending direction BD. In other words, the touchdisplay device 1100 can have better reliability and yield rate byconfiguring the first section TP1A in the first bending portion 1102 orthe second bending portion 1106 and configuring the second section TP1Bin the first main portion 1104 or the second main portion 1108.

FIG. 12 is a schematic cross sectional view of a touch display devicetaken along a portion of a transmission line in the touch display devicewhen touch display device is in a bent status according to an embodimentof the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 12, a portion of a touch displaydevice 1200 presented in the drawing includes a substrate 1210, atransmission line TL″, a touch electrode 1220, and an insulating layer1240. The touch electrode 1220 can be the first touch electrode or thesecond touch electrode as mentioned above. The transmission line TL″ isconnected to the touch electrode 1220, and can include a first traceportion 21 disposed on the substrate 1210, a second trace portion 22disposed on the insulating layer 1240, and a connection portion TLCdisposed between the first trace portion 21 and the second trace portion22 and passing through the insulating layer 1240. Openings 1242 areformed in the insulating layer 1240, and the connection portion TLC isformed in the openings 1242.

As described in FIG. 6, the display layer 630 can include the drivinglayer 632 and a display medium layer 634. The driving layer 632 caninclude a gate and a source/drain electrode. The display medium layer634 can include a first electrode, a second electrode on the firstelectrode, and a light emitting layer between the first electrode andthe second electrode. The transmission line TL″ can include a conductivelayer disposed under the insulating layer 1240 to increase conductivityand reliability. In some embodiments, the first trace portion can havethe same material as the gate or the source/drain. The first traceportion can be formed as the layer as the gate. Or, the first traceportion can be formed as the layer as the source or drain. In someembodiments, wherein the first trace portion can have the same materialas the first electrode or the second electrode. The first trace portioncan be formed as the layer as the first electrode. Or, the first traceportion can be formed as the layer as the second electrode.

By the configuration of the transmission line TL″, the touch sensingsignal of the touch electrode 1220 can be transmitted through the firsttrace portion 21, the connection portion TLC and the second traceportion 22 to a driving unit. In addition, the cross section structureof the transmission line TL″ can be applied to the transmission line TLand the transmission line TL′ in the previous embodiments. By means ofelectrical connection of the connection portion in the insulating layerand the conductive layer below the insulating layer, the transmissionline TL″ can be less likely damaged or broken when curved in accordanceof the bending of the substrate 1210, such that the touch display devicehaving the design of the transmission line TL″ can have betterreliability.

FIG. 13 is a schematic cross sectional view of a touch display deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG.13, a touch display device 1300 includes a substrate 1310, a first touchelectrode 1320, a display layer 1330, and an insulating layer 1340. Thefirst touch electrode 1320 is disposed on the substrate 1310, thedisplay layer 1330 is disposed between the first touch electrode 1320and the substrate 1310, and the insulating layer 1340 is disposedbetween the first touch electrode 1320 and the display layer 1330. Thedisplay layer 1330 can include a driving layer 1332, a display mediumlayer 1334 and a dielectric layer 1336 between the driving layer 1332and the display medium layer 1334. In addition, the detailed structureof the driving layer 1332 and the display medium layer 1334 can refer tothe detailed descriptions of the display pixel 630P in FIG. 6 and notreiterated here. The structure shown in FIG. 13 can be on the bendingportion of the substrate. FIG. 14 schematically illustrates a top viewof the first touch electrode in FIG. 13. As shown in FIG. 14, the firsttouch electrode 1320 can be formed by a plurality of geometric patternsconnecting in series and can be connected to a transmission line TL. Inthe present embodiment, the geometric patterns forming the first touchelectrode 1320 are diamond patterns, but not limited thereto. In analternative embodiment, the geometric patterns forming the first touchelectrode 1320 can include rectangles, hexagons, octagons, circles,ovals, or other geometric patterns.

FIG. 15 is a schematic cross sectional view of a touch display deviceaccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring toFIG. 15, a touch display device 1500 includes a substrate 1510, a firsttouch electrode 1520, a display layer 1530, an insulating layer 1540,and a second touch electrode 1550. The first touch electrode 1520 isdisposed on the substrate 1510, the display layer 1530 is disposedbetween the first touch electrode 1520 and the substrate 1510, and theinsulating layer 1540 is disposed between the first touch electrode 1520and the display layer 1530. The display layer 1530 can include a drivinglayer 1532, a display medium layer 1534 and a dielectric layer 1536between the driving layer 1532 and the display medium layer 1534. Inaddition, the detail structure of the driving layer 1532 and the displaymedium layer 1534 can refer to the detail description of the displaypixel 630P in FIG. 6, but the pattern design of the second electrode E2′of the light emitting diode structure LED′ is different from that inFIG. 6. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the second touchelectrode 1550 can be formed in the same layer as the second electrodeE2′ of the light emitting diode structure LED′. Herein, the design ofthe touch display device 1500 can be called as a hybrid touch displaystructure. The structure shown in FIG. 15 can be on the bending portionof the substrate.

FIG. 16 schematically illustrates a top view of the first touchelectrode and the second touch electrode in FIG. 15. As shown in FIG.16, the first touch electrode 1520 can be formed by a stripe pattern andthe second touch electrode 1550 can also be formed by a stripe pattern.In addition, the extending direction of the first touch electrode 1520intersects the extending direction of the second touch electrode 1550.The first touch electrode 1520 and the second touch electrode canperform a mutual capacitive touch sensing function by capacitivecoupling to each other.

In view of the above, the touch display device has a bending portionconfigured with the display layer and the touch electrode, such that thebending portion can provide both the display function and the touchsensing function. In addition, the touch electrode disposed in thebending portion can be designed have a structure less likely be damagedby the bending stress. Accordingly, the touch display device can havebetter reliability.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a substrate; aninsulating layer disposed on the substrate; and a conductive linedisposed on the substrate, wherein the conductive line comprises: afirst trace disposed on the substrate; and a second trace disposed onthe first trace; wherein the insulating layer is disposed between thefirst trace and the second trace; wherein the second trace comprises aplurality of connection parts passing through the insulating layer andconnected to the first trace, and one of the plurality of connectionparts is adjacent to another one of the plurality of connection parts;and wherein a portion of the first trace continuously extends from theone of the plurality of connection parts to the another one of theplurality of connection parts, and a portion of the second tracecontinuously extends from the one of the plurality of connection partsto the another one of the plurality of connection parts, wherein in atop view of the electronic device, the conductive line further comprisesa first direction portion, a second direction portion and a thirddirection portion connected between the first direction portion and thesecond direction portion, and an extending direction of the thirddirection portion is intersected with either an extending direction ofthe first direction portion or an extending direction of the seconddirection portion, and wherein the first direction portion, the seconddirection portion and the third direction portion are formed in a samelayer.
 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein thesubstrate comprises a first bending portion.
 3. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the substrate further comprises a mainportion, the first bending portion is located at a side of the mainportion, and a greatest curvature of the first bending portion isgreater than a greatest curvature of the main portion.
 4. The electronicdevice according to claim 3, wherein the substrate further comprises asecond bending portion located at another side of the main portion, anda greatest curvature of the second bending portion is greater than thegreatest curvature of the main portion.
 5. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising a touch electrode disposed onthe insulating layer.
 6. A touch device, comprising: a substrate; atouch electrode disposed on the substrate; an insulating layer disposedon the substrate; and a conductive line connected to the touchelectrode, wherein the conductive line comprises: a first trace disposedon the substrate; and a second trace disposed on the first trace;wherein the insulating layer is disposed between the first trace and thesecond trace, and the touch electrode is disposed on the insulatinglayer; wherein the second trace comprises a plurality of connectionparts passing through the insulating layer and connected to the firsttrace, and one of the plurality of connection parts is adjacent toanother one of the plurality of connection parts; and wherein a portionof the first trace continuously extends from the one of the plurality ofconnection parts to the another one of the plurality of connectionparts, and a portion of the second trace continuously extends from theone of the plurality of connection parts to the another one of theplurality of connection parts, wherein the conductive line furthercomprises a first direction portion, a second direction portion and athird direction portion connected between the first direction portionand the second direction portion, and an extending direction of thethird direction portion is intersected with either an extendingdirection of the first direction portion or an extending direction ofthe second direction portion, and wherein the first direction portion,the second direction portion and the third direction portion are formedin a same layer.
 7. The touch device according to claim 6, wherein thesubstrate comprises a bending portion.
 8. The touch device according toclaim 7, wherein the substrate further comprises a main portion, thebending portion is located at a side of the main portion, and a greatestcurvature of the bending portion is greater than a greatest curvature ofthe main portion.